Swahili Appreciation Forum

Keine Straße durch die Serengeti !

I have a sponsor child with plan international in Tanzania. He is a 3 year old boy living with his parents in the Dar area. I wrote a letter in spring and sent some pencils and a pad. With this letter my kiswahili teacher helped me. Now there won't be another course this year and my kiswahili is still poor. I could write this letter in english or even german as the organisation would translate it, but I think its nice to try it myself again.

Now I need some help from you experts. I have started in a word doc one side eng on kiswahili. Now I would like to send it to one of you, to help me with the rest and controll what I have already written.

You can contact me via my LJ addresse named on my userinfo.

This seems really basic, but I can't find an explanation anywhere:

1) How does kiswahili deal with sentences like, "I want someone to do X". For example:

I want you to play a game. = "Ninataka unacheza mchezo"? Or "Ninakutaka kucheza mchezo"? Or what?
I want you to speak with him. = "Ninataka unasema na yeye"? Or "Ninakutaka kusema na yeye"? Or what?
etc.

2} How do you say something like, "I want to do X to someone". For example:

I want to speak with you. = "Ninataka kusema na yeye"?
I want to hit him. = "Ninataka kupiga yeye"?
I want to kiss you. = "Ninataka kubusu wewe"?
etc.


Asante sana!

Has anyone tried the Rosetta Stone system to learn Kiswahili, or any other language? Was it worth the outrageous price? Alternatively, what other teach-yourself language systems have you found helpful in learning Kiswahili?

I know it is a sentimental tourist song, but I like ist

Malaika, nakupenda Malaika.
Malaika, nakupenda Malaika.
Nami nifanyeje, kijana mwenzio,
Nashindwa na mali sina, we,
Ningekuoa Malaika.
Nashindwa na mali sina, we,
Ningekuoa Malaika.

Pesa zasumbua roho yangu
Pesa zasumbua roho yangu
Nami nifanyeje, kijana mwenzio,
Ningekuoa Malaika.
Nashindwa na mali sina, we,
Ningekuoa Malaika.

Kidege, hukuwaza kidege.
Kidege, hukuwaza kidege.
Nami nifanyeje, kijana mwenzio,
Nashindwa na mali sina, we,
Ningekuoa Malaika.
Ningekuoa Malaika.


And here it is sung (found on KamusiProject)

Nina moja mtoto wa ubitatizo tangu Januari mwaka huu. Jina lake ni Mora ana miaka tatu. Ana kukaa kwa Daressalaam. Nili kuwana kuandika barua moja. Ninangoja jibu sasa.

Mimi ninafunza ksiwahili tangu miwezi tano. Februari darasa mapya lianza.

I think thats enough kiswahili for today, what I wanted to say. I am learning Kiswahili for about 5 month in an evening class. The next will start in February. I am looking for persons, native or non native, to exercise Kiswahili. Maybe learning by doing will bring some improvement. *HOPE*

1: The chart/graph kind.

I'm looking for the most comprehensive chart that shows the matchings of prefixes with noun groups. So far, I've got this one: http://www.kwangu.com/swahili/grammar_complex.htm

2: the group discussion kind

Anyone know of a Swahili group in the Minneapolis area?

I stumbled upon lulu.com: a vanity/self-publishing press that also sells the wares online. My main interest was to see if there was anything Swahili-related - and there was.

http://www.lulu.com/browse/search.php?fAdvSearch%5Bauthor%5D=&fAdvSearch%5Btitle%5D=&fAdvSearch%5Bdescr%5D=swahili&fAdvSearch%5Blang_code%5D=EN&fAdvSearch%5Bcountry_id%5D=&fAdvSubmitSearch=1&fAdvSubmitSearch=SEARCH

Habari gani? Jina langu ni Ian. Mimi mwanafunzi wa mwaka wa pili wa Kiswahili. Nasoma Chuo Kikuu cha California, Los Angeles. Napenda kuimba, kusema Kiswahili, kuandika muziki, kucheza michezo ya video, na kuandika programu ya kompyuta.